On Saturday 2 June 2007, thousands of people dressed in white will gather on Lambeth Bridge and along the banks of the river Thames, setting off alarm bells at 2pm for three minutes as Tony Blair leaves for the G8 summit. The leaders of eight rich nations will meet from 6-8 June in Heiligendamm, Germany. Campaigners want the Prime Minister to tackle the root causes of poverty and environmental damage at the G8.

Friends of the Earth Trade Campaigner Joe Zacune said:

"Blair must not use the G8 to push for a world trade deal, as all the evidence shows that current proposals would hurt developing countries and their environment. It is clearly anti-democratic that Britain and a handful of other powerful nations make self-serving economic decisions behind closed doors that exclude and most often harm developing countries. We need an alternative approach to managing the global economy that prioritises the world's poor and the environment over corporate interests."

An increasing body of evidence shows that current proposals at the World Trade Organisation would have a detrimental impact on the poorest developing countries and their natural resources [1]. Furthermore, other G8 states are negotiating corporate-driven trade deals outside the WTO that campaigners claim are set to do even more damage to developing country economies and their environment than the current WTO proposals [2].

The G8 summit is expected to reaffirm previous commitments on renewable energies and energy efficiency. However, such welcome statements are overshadowed by the focus being given to investment in fossil fuel extraction, biofuels and the use of nuclear power.

Friends of the Earth's Head of Campaigns, Mike Childs, said:

"Britain must play a leading role in urging G8 leaders to take much stronger action to combat climate change by investing in renewables and energy efficiency. Last year, heads of state at the G8 summit in Russia took a big step back in tackling climate change by promoting a business as usual approach to investment in fossil fuels.

"Biofuel development is fraught with risk. It threatens to pitch the world's 800 million motorists into competition with the world's 800 million malnourished people as they compete for access to the same crops. If done badly it can also cause tropical deforestation and even end up driving up global carbon emissions. If they are serious about tackling transport emissions the G8 must prioritise action on cutting their demand for transport fossil fuels and backing a quantum leap in fuel efficiency performance."

Friends of the Earth wants strong commitments from G8 leaders ahead of UN climate change talks which will be held in Bali in December. Campaigners want to ensure that global average temperatures are not allowed to rise by two degrees centigrade. Collectively the G8 nations, which represent just 13 per cent of the world's population, are responsible for 45 per cent of the world's greenhouse gas emissions.

Friends of the Earth also condemns the G8 process that does not allow developing country participation and acts in the interests of the world's most powerful nations and their business interests.

Notes

The G8 countries are the United States, Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and Russia.

[1] The following studies highlight how the world's poorest countries would lose out from the current proposals on the table at the WTO. Institute for Development Policy and Management, University of Manchester, "EU Sustainability Impact Assessment of Proposed WTO Negotiations: Final Report", July 2006 www.sia-trade.org/wto/FinalPhase/FINAL_OVERALL%20PROJECTJul06.pdf (PDF†) UN

Food and Agriculture Organisation, "New focus needed for Doha Round: Trade talks failed to address developing country problems", August 2006 www.fao.org/newsroom/en/news/2006/1000375/index.html

K. Gallagher, Boston University and T. Wise, Tufts University, "Doha Round and Developing Countries: Will the Doha deal do more harm than good?", April 2006

Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, "Winners and Losers: Impact of the Doha Round on Developing Countries", Sandra Polaski, 2006
www.carnegieendowment.org/files/BWfinal.pdf (PDF†)

A study by the World Bank's Independent Evaluation Group (IEG) from March 2006 concluded that the World Bank's strategies on trade have not delivered on employment and poverty reduction. www.worldbank.org/ieg/trade/docs/press_release_trade_evaluation.pdf (PDF†) Institute for Development Policy and Management, University of Manchester, "Sustainability Impact Assessment of Proposed WTO Negotiations: Final Report for the Forest Sector Study", June 2005 www.sia-trade.org/wto/final%20report%20page.shtml

[2] Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs) are free trade deals that are currently being negotiated outside the WTO between the EU and African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries. For more information on EPAs see the Friends of the Earth report, "Corporate Conquest: Why the UK and its EU Partners must stop forcing Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs) upon developing countries". www.foe.co.uk/resource/briefings/corporate_conquest.pdf